I agree with @don't_wanna_be_stupid_any_more, as they put it: human disempowerment. I think the usefulness would come from a GA that is against or opposed to the principal, so as to avert the creation of an echo chamber. To elaborate, I mean that an opposing-GA would tell you what things are not worth doing. If the principal wants to carry out action XYZ, the opposing-GA would critique it. I think the idea I am describing is more of a Guardian Devil (GD). My whole point with this is that I wouldn't want a "yes" man with me at all times as an assistant, but...
I think it goes both ways. As you said, knowing "trees comes from air" may just be an irrelevant fact for solving hard problems. I think that the specific questions you make in the post are similar, not in that they are irrelevant facts, but they are motivational questions that may not hinder one's ability to solve hard challenges in AI safety. Of course, it might be better to have a solid motivation for AI safety research, as it can better help you solve the problems.
I will correlate personal motivation to the irrelevant subject-specific facts, in that, i...
I think a physical manifestation of "no pain, no gain" is that for building muscle, you must exhaust it and induce micro-tears for it build back stronger. This example clearly illustrates why "pain is the unit of effort". I think that, like most things, it must be a careful balance. One mustn't suffer for the sake of suffering, but rather, as a result of extending oneself.
Simple example: Assume appropriate background knowledge. If I read a paper where I have difficulty in understanding it, instead of taking the easy way out of asking someone else, I can co... (read more)